Environmental information requests - when does the 20 day clock start and stop?
The 20 day clock starts ticking on the first working day after you receive an EIR request.
The requested information should be provided within 20 working days from the receipt of the request. You may engage in dialogue with the requester in the course of providing advice and assistance, and indeed, this is encouraged. The clock does not stop during the course of normal dialogue.
If you decide to request a reasonable charge for the information, and you decide to ask for the charge in advance, you should stop the clock when you notify the applicant of the charge and restart it again (but not reset it to zero) when the fee is received. The information does not have to be provided unless the fee is paid within 60 working days of the request for payment (regulation 8(5)).
If a request is complex and voluminous the time period may be extended to a maximum of 40 working days. The clock starts on the day after the request is received and runs for up to 40 days instead of 20 days. You must write to notify the applicant of the time extension within the first 20 days.
If the request is formulated in too general a manner (regulation 9(2)) you should ask the applicant to provide more details in relation to the request and you should assist the applicant to do this. You should do this as soon as possible and certainly within the 20 day period. When further details and/or clarification is received, a new 20 day time period for provision of the information starts on the day after the further particulars are received.
Page last modified: 9 October 2007
Page published: 21
September 2005